State Association News

STATE ASSOCIATION UPDATE

ARKANSAS TIM COLLIER, Past President of the NPA and President of Arkansas Pawnbrokers Association

The 2021 Annual Dixie Pawnbroker Educational Conference & Trade Show was held at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, Alabama over Labor Day Monday, September 6th through Wednesday, September 8th, 2021.

Attendees were treated to an update from Cliff Andrews, the National Pawnbrokers Association lobbyist, who presented the keynote address. With all the uncertainty surrounding the new administration, Cliff shared his DC insight on what the trends look like for pawn moving forward this year and what may be coming with the 36% rate cap bills that have been filed so far.

Pawnbrokers were also able to hear about social media from Nick and Nicholas Fulton of USA Pawn in Jackson, Mississippi. Sean Makovsky from Marque Luxury presented a seminar on luxury handbags, and Brad Huisken shared insights on sales techniques.

Be sure and make your plans now to attend the Dixie Educational Conference & Trade Show September 5-7, 2022, when we’ll be back at beautiful Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, Alabama. You can contact Tim Collier at tim@pacerltd.com for details and to make reservations.

ILLINOIS KELLY SWISHER, President of the Illinois Pawnbrokers Association

I would like to start by thanking the members who have realized all that the association has done for your business this past year. You understand that you would not be writing pawns if it weren’t for the action taken by the IPA. The donations you have given are most appreciated and needed for the fight that lies ahead.

I think it’s fair to say that you would have to be living under a rock to not know about the PLPA. We have been fighting it since January. There are still pawnbrokers in Illinois that are not members of the IPA. This is beyond my comprehension as to why they will not join an association that is here to save their business. I know some of you that regularly read these articles are thinking that I sound like a broken record, well it’s because I have yet to meet a pawnbroker who can give me a valid reason for not being a member. If you have one, please call me. I would love to hear it.

Congratulations to the newly elected IPA Board Members, I look forward to working with you to better the pawn industry here in Illinois. We have implemented many new changes addressing the needs of the association moving forward. I also look forward to working with all those who have volunteered for those position. We are changing the fundamental way our association operates, and it is an exciting time to be involved.

MISSISSIPPI NICK FULTON, President of the Mississippi Pawnbrokers Association

The Mississippi Pawnbrokers Association Board of Directors have hit the legislative trail early with meetings with several representatives and senators, including the speaker of the house. We have been developing personal relationships with our lawmakers and educating them on our industry before any crises arise. Our lobbyist, Tom Wallace, has been instrumental in setting up these meetings with casual dinners and putting us face to face with these lawmakers over the years and has helped us create many allies. We’ve had them come and visit our stores and have explained to them how many families we give financial aid to when they have nowhere else to turn. When something does come up that can have an adverse outcome to our business, they are already familiar with what we do and how a pawnshop works. One of our biggest allies is Lynn Fitch, Mississippi’s Attorney General, who is very knowledgeable in consumer finance.

Mississippi is just one of two states that offer continuing education to its members. This year, with the help of our regulating body, the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance, we were able to provide online courses which made it easier to get the hours required to retain a pawn license. It was a huge success, and we hope to continue to provide quality training not only online, but through our new website as well.

In 2019 we were burdened with renewing our licenses through a platform using NMLS (Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System). It was, and continues to be, a very complicated and time-consuming system to get your pawn license. When it was first introduced in Mississippi, pawnbrokers had just 90-days to comply. After several meetings with several lawmakers, we were granted another year so we could provide training to our members, but it still didn’t help. What used to take a pawnbroker a few hours to renew turned into weeks, and the worse part was there were new fees (taxes) involved in the process. This will be our first year doing the renewal process through NMLS and we are hoping for a smoother process to acquire our license. The National Pawnbrokers Association is aware that the NMLS is looking to add many other states to this registration process, and you need to join them and fight this.

OHIO RAPHAEL TINCHER, President of the Ohio Pawnbrokers Association

The Ohio Pawnbrokers Association will hold our next membership meeting in March, 2022. The date is yet to be determined, but it will be on a Sunday and at the Quest Center in Columbus. A four-hour CE program will be offered immediately following the membership meeting. Remember, our license period ends June 30, 2022. Remember, you need one designated person, with 8 CE Hours, per location, per license period.

We are monitoring a couple of bills at the state level. The first involves privacy laws and could be a welcome defense for our industry regarding reporting to LE via third parties. The second could create

Nick Fulton-USA Pawn of MS, President of the Mississippi Pawnbrokers Association and Lynn Fitch, Mississippi Attorney General

a giant mess in our state. It involves the creation of “sandboxes” to test out new financial products without requiring them to be licensed by the state. Think of how CSO loopholes allowed title lenders in, and multiply that by 1,000, for the possibility of competing services that are unregulated and tarnish our image because we get lumped in with “predatory” lenders. Think also of how payday lenders and title caused us such problems (the Constitutional rate cap we defeated at great cost). We may have to get very motivated to fight this bill and I will be reaching out to you in the near future.

OREGON BETH ANUNDI, President of the Oregon Pawnbrokers Association

Together with their lobbyists Oregon Pawnbrokers are working hard to help legislators understand the value of pawnshops. Selected pawnbrokers will be inviting legislators to their places of business over the next session. We are looking forward to showcasing these stores and discussing with our state legislators how pawn helps communities and clients each and every month.

RHODE ISLAND CLIFF FRYE, President of the Rhode Island Pawnbrokers Association

We are in the process of setting up meetings with State representatives and Senator Whitehouse and United States Senator Reed with the help of our lobbyist, Steven Alves, to educate them on pawn and why we feel the 36APR Federal Rate Cap bills should not include non-recourse loans. Our association is working diligently to get meetings on the calendar before year end.

TENNESSEE GAYLE FEREBEE, President of the Tennessee Pawnbrokers Association

Pawnbroker AND vendor membership continues to build in Tennessee. Our members are getting active and reaching out to state and federal lawmakers with introductions and offers for information in the event that legislation crosses their desk concerning the pawn industry. Huge thanks to the NPA for the “Truth about Pawn” brochures and Pawnbroker Network’s digital campaign that shed a great and informative light on the pawn industry. With legislative focus on COVID-19 this special session, our face-to-face meetings have been delayed, but are expected to resume throughout December and January. We have yet to hire a full-time state lobbyist, but we have found someone that will lobby on our behalf, at a more affordable rate than having someone full-time, if the 36% APR cap comes up this legislative session.

TEXAS CODY LEE LEWIS, President of the Texas Association of Pawnbrokers

The Texas Association of Pawnbrokers would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! We have all been through a lot the last 18 months. Working together as Pawnbrokers, both State and Nationwide, we have overcome the obstacles of the pandemic and came out stronger. Let’s continue our work together to show the world how Great we are!

We want to invite everyone to our 25th Anniversary Convention. It will be held February 25-27, 2022 at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel. We will be having a Casino Party Friday night and our fun filled PAC Auction on Saturday. Come hear our speakers: Michael Mack, Steve Mack and Brad Huisken! For more information, please contact the TAP office texasap25@gmail.com or 972-506-0203.

Discover for yourself what so many Pawnbrokers already know

OUR GIFT TO YOU

TRANSPARENCY | TRUST | FINANCIAL STRENGTH | PEACE OF MIND

THREE 1 TR. OZ. FINE SILVER BARS WHEN YOU REFINE THE FIRST TIME WITH MID-STATES

OVER 35 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE IN GOLD, SILVER & PLATINUM REFINING

STATE-OF-THE-ART LAB ANALYSIS AND DIAMOND RECOVERY

IMMEDIATE CASH PAYMENT AVAILABLE

FULL TRANSPARENCY

IN-HOUSE TRADING DEPARTMENT

EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE

MID-STATES RECYCLING

1841 Busse Highway Des Plaines, IL 60016

847.298.0010

www.MidStatesRecycling.com